Ultimate Cup Series – Sunday at Paul-Ricard

208 Racing Cup

For this fourth and final race of the Var 208 Racing Cup weekend, the starting grid is reversed depending on the result of race 3. It is a Junior who therefore starts on pole, Thomas Compain (GM Sport) , ahead of Maxime Ciciliani (Team Montbeliard). Starting 3rd, Denis Andres took the lead from the first corners while the favorites for victory moved up the hierarchy, including Joran Leneutre.

The young man from JSB Competition thus got back on the provisional podium in the 4th lap before jostling until the last lap against Pierre Monmaneix (GPA Racing). Joran Leneutre found the opening to win his third overall victory this season, his second this weekend. He achieves a success in the Junior category. The podium is completed by the two GPA Racing drivers, Alexandre Finkelstein and Pierre Monmaneix.

GT Sprint

The start of the GT Sprint race was somewhat hectic as the starting procedure had to be renewed. Victim of a mechanical problem during the formation lap, the Renault R.S. 01 n°23 de Lucien Crapiz. Il a fallu ensuite évacuer la Porsche Cup n°5 puis nettoyer la portion intérieure de la ligne droite des stands.

Although, admittedly, several minutes late, the start of the race could finally be given. On pole, Marc Waechter (G2 Racing AG) was not disturbed and led all the laps to win at the finish line, ahead of his direct championship competitor, Bernard Delhez (AB Sport Auto), 2nd. Gilles Colombani (Team Clairet Sport) concludes his first weekend in GT Sprint with a new podium.

Absent on the starting grid, Philippe Arrobio was unable to achieve the grand slam in the Porsche Cup category. Gilles Petit took the opportunity to shine at the wheel of the No. 57 GMC Motorsport Porsche.

Single seat

Three pole positions and three victories for Jean-Baptiste Mela, author of clear and flawless domination in the Sunday race. At the wheel of the No. 3 F1R, the Autosport GP driver had little use for the fight behind him to win and thus achieve the perfect weekend on the Circuit Paul Ricard.

The battle raged at the start between Nicolas Cheers (CMR), 2nd on the grid, Dylan Young (Graff), on the second row. The Australian driver was particularly threatening in the first turns and waited for the North chicane to put the brakes on Nico Prost. The latter was then unable to regain his due, leaving the driver Graff to climb to the 2nd step of the podium and having to settle for 3rd position.

It is also flawless for Shannon Lugassy (CMR) in FR2.0 with three category victories out of three.

GT Endurance

29 cars on the starting line, 4 hours of racing, a blazing sun... All the elements came together to make the GT Endurance race a real success. Success had to be sought on the track, particularly in the flagship GT Class 3A category won for the very first time by Franck Dezoteux and Stéphane Tribaudini.

The pair of Renault R.S. 01 n°5 (FIT ITBC by 2SM Pilotage) had already had the opportunity to demonstrate their level of performance with two poles, without achieving a victory. It is now done after leading the start of the race and especially the last hour. They thus put an end to AB Sport Auto's winning streak, whose No. 45 Renault of championship leaders Eric Cayrolle and Franck Thybaud suffered a transmission problem.

It is nevertheless a third consecutive victory for a Renault in GT Class 3A, ahead of the Mercedes AMG GT3 n°83 by Charles-Henri Samani and Emmanuel Collard. The polemen concede 1 minute 30 on the finish line. Visiom has not yet managed to win this season despite the consistency of the crew. David Hallyday, Jean-Paul Pagny and Jean-Bernard Bouvet, who also celebrated his birthday on Saturday, finished 3rd. There Ferrari 488 GTE Evo n°1 is followed by the Ferrari n°8 of Kessel Racing which we could see a few laps at the top of the hierarchy.

The GT Class 3B category was won by the #55 Marc II Mustang from VDS Racing Adventures, ahead of the #3 Lamborghini Huracan from Nerguti Competition, with Valentin Simonet and Lucas Valkre on board. This 2nd place in category is a great reward for the two men who have not been spared from the setbacks since Friday.

Endurance Proto

After monopolizing the first row of the starting grid with its two Ligier JS P320s, Team Virage achieved a third consecutive victory at the end of the 3 hours of racing this Sunday.

Mathis Poulet, Julian Wagg and Miguel Cristovao, who took pole in qualifying, had a timid start to the race but as we know, it is in the last half hour that the hierarchy becomes clearer. The staggered strategy for the trio of the #88 Ligier bore fruit since the #13 Mirage Racing Ligier, in the lead in the last 20 minutes, had to return to the pits in order to make its last mandatory stop unlike Team Virage who just had to reach the finish.

Mathis Poulet therefore saw himself inherit the controls of the race a few minutes from the checkered flag and thus offered a third success in a row to his team and his teammates, by relegating Mathias Beche, Emilien Carde and Mirage Racing to 33 seconds. The #13 Ligier nevertheless completed 50 of the 82 laps in the lead, demonstrating the growing strength of the team led by Guillaume Bruot. The LM P3 podium is completed by the No. 21 DB Autosport Duqueine, driven by Lionel and Antoine Robert, as well as Jordan Perroy.

Despite a strong start to the race from Alessandro Bracalente, the #77 Ligier of Team Virage suffered a mechanical problem after taking off on a curb. The Italian driver was then leading the race…

ANS Motorsport seems unstoppable in CN with a double obtained thanks to the reigning champions of the discipline, Xavier Fort and Nicolas Marroc, winners in the No. 1, ahead of Nicolas Schatz and Alexandre Yvon in the No. 71.

The Circuit Paul Ricard crew, made up of Stéphane Clair, Frédéric Julien and Cyril Raymond, saw the finish with the No. 83 Proto Evo.